Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel will return to Gujarat after 6 months today. (File)
Hardik Patel will drive into Gujarat this morning from Rajasthan, where he has lived for the past six months in exile. The 23-year-old face of the Patidar or Patel agitation for reservation in government jobs and colleges was granted bail in a sedition case on the condition that he would stay out of Gujarat for six months. That deadline ended today.
As Hardik crosses the border at Ratanpur, a cavalcade of around 500 cars will accompany him to Himmatnagar in north Gujarat. "Around a lakh workers have been asked to assemble at Ratanpur and Himmatnagar to welcome Hardik. He will then spell out the future course of action.'' said Varun Patel, a leader of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti. Hardik's supporters have said his return will mark round 2 of the Patel agitation.
The young activist will reach Gandhinagar in the afternoon and is scheduled to meet former Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel. His return is being keenly watched by political parties with assembly elections to be held in Gujarat later this year. Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which makes its debut in Gujarat in the next elections, has been seeking Patel support. In October, Mr Kejriwal tried to woo the Patidar community by calling Hardik Patel a "patriot".
Hardik was based out of Udaipur in Rajasthan in the last six months but made frequent trips to other states meeting leaders of political parties to garner support for when he returned to Gujarat. Hardik Patel has vowed to ensure the defeat of the BJP, who he accuses of betraying the Patels, a powerful community that had faithfully backed the party over the years.
Not this time, says Hardik, who met Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar in Patna recently and is said to have discussed a joint campaign against the BJP. Mr Kumar has since conveyed his inability to join Hardik at a massive homecoming rally he plans on January 25 in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat.
Nitish Kumar has said he is busy campaigning for his party the Janata Dal (United) in states where elections will be held next month.
After challenging the BJP-led government in Gujarat at the head of a massive 45-day Patel agitation, Hardik Patel was arrested in August 2015 when a rally he had called triggered violence across the state that killed at least 12 people. The Gujarat police later charged him with sedition and Hardik Patel was in jail in Surat for nine months before he was granted bail.